


No Immediate Danger

by Helen8462



Series: Tumbler Prompts, Challenges and Other Inspired Vignettes [12]
Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Action, F/M, Prequel, Reckless Janeway
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-16
Updated: 2017-08-16
Packaged: 2018-12-16 03:06:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11819958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Helen8462/pseuds/Helen8462
Summary: Janeway puts herself into a dangerous situation leaving the others to come to her rescue.





	No Immediate Danger

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MiaCooper](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiaCooper/gifts), [khurst](https://archiveofourown.org/users/khurst/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Ficlets](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11063199) by [MiaCooper](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiaCooper/pseuds/MiaCooper). 



> This is a little prequel to the [Make-up Sex Ficlet](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11063199/chapters/26464488) that MiaCooper wrote the other day. My action writing was getting rusty and I figured she set it up nicely, why not. I promise she provides a quite satisfying ending...
> 
> The fantastic first-line prompt was from khurst.
> 
> Thanks to Mia for beta-ing her own little gift!

 

* * *

 

“Please come up with something more reassuring than ‘you are in no  _immediate_ danger.’”

_~Sorry, Commander.  That’s… um.  The best… can’t talk now, Janeway out.~_

Chakotay spun on his heels, worry straining his features.  “Harry, keep a transporter lock on her,” he ordered.

“I’ve already got one, Commander,” he assured. “But when she gets a little deeper into that nebula the interference –“

“I know,” Chakotay snapped back.  “Inform me the instant you lose her.”  As his eyes traced back from Ops, they met fleetingly with those of his tactical officer.  He wasn’t sure that he’d ever seen worry expressed quite so clearly by a Vulcan before, but there it was, plain as the tattoo on Chakotay’s face.

“How much longer until she reaches her target?” the Commander asked.

“ _Sacajawea_ will be within tractor range of the multi-spatial probe in two minutes, twelve seconds,” Tuvok reported.

The silence was deafening, and far too long for Chakotay’s taste.

Then, at one minute, eight seconds in…

“I lost her,” Harry announced. “Our comm link is gone too.”

Chakotay grimaced.  “Sensors?”

“I’ve still got her,” B’Elanna replied.  All eyes were on the viewscreen as puffs of purple and green haze wisped ominously around the shuttle’s waning form.  “I’m reading elevated hydrogen and methane levels. There’s another pocket forming.  It’s eighty meters off her port bow; six times bigger than the one that rocked her before.”

“She sees it, right?” Harry asked.

“She should,” B’Elanna replied.  “She’s right on top –“

A blinding flash shot across the viewscreen.  The volatile mix of gasses ignited into a conflagration so bright the bridge crew had to shield their eyes, then burnt itself out just as quickly as it had started.

Chakotay froze, unable to find the words to ask for her status.  Voices, frantic and overwhelming in their numbers and volume began to assault him from every direction.

_“She’s taken heavy damage.”_

_“Damn it.  The probe was destroyed.”_

_“Shields are at seven percent.”_

_“Her warp core is destabilizing.”_

_“She’s going to have to eject it.”_

_“She may have been injured.”_

_“Why isn’t she ejecting it?”_

_“I still can’t reach her on the comm.”_

_“Is she conscious?”_

_“I can’t tell.”_

_“Two minutes, twenty-eight seconds till core breach.”_

_“Chakotay we have to get her out of there.”_

_“Commander?”_

“Red Alert.  We’re going in,” Chakotay choked.  “Thrusters to max.  Kill ‘em at the edge of the gas cloud and we’ll drift in.”

“It might not be enough,” B’Elanna warned.

“I can’t risk blowing up the ship using engines in there.  We’re not as maneuverable as a shuttle.”

“With all due respect, Commander.  Once we are in the nebula we will need to power engines in order to exit,” Tuvok reminded.  To which Chakotay only had the time to think _‘I’ll worry about that later_ ,’ before being interrupted again.

“We’re not going to make it to her in time,” Harry warned.

“Harry’s right,” B’Elanna agreed.  “We’re going to need another three-point-eight seconds of full impulse to get in far enough before she blows.”

“What about the path she just took and the void that was just created?” Tom asked, not turning his attention from his station.

“What about it?”

“Tom’s thinking her path should be safe for at least a little while longer,” B’Elanna continued on behalf of her husband. 

“ _Voyager_ won’t fit, but the _Flyer_ will,” Tom finished, fingers still furiously working the console to guide them to the discreet edge of the nebula. “There’s still time for me to get to her.”

“I need you at _Voyager’s_ helm to get us out of here,” Chakotay said, turning to Harry. “Ensign, send me to the –“

“Commander,” Tuvok interrupted, poised at the ready to intercept his superior officer’s next action.  “It is highly inadvisable that both members of the command team be off of the vessel in an instance such as this.”

“He’s right,” a voice said from behind. “I’ll go.”

Chakotay spun around to see Lieutenant Ayala ten steps closer than he had been while waiting in the wings as relief conn.  One quick glance was the only exchange needed between old friends, which was fortunate because they had no further moments to spare.

“Send him, Harry,” Chakotay ordered.

A moment later, Ayala disappeared.  In the space of a few breaths, the _Flyer_ was away. 

 _“Spirits, guide him,”_ Chakotay murmured under his breath.  “Tom, stop us at the edge.”

“Aye, sir.”

“Commander, I’ve got a reading on Captain Janeway again,” Harry announced.  “She’s alive, but her vitals are very weak.”

“Mr. Ayala,” Chakotay said, “How’s it going out there?”

 _~Fine, Commander,~_ Ayala could be heard saying amidst static.  _~It’s a bit of bumpy ride, but I’m almost to the captain.~_

“Acknowledged.  Fly it safe, but quick, Lieutenant.”

“I’ve lost my lock on Ayala,” Harry advised.

“Hopefully he won’t need it,” Tom muttered back. 

All the bridge crew could do was watch and wait. 

“Forty seconds until Janeway’s core breaches,” B’Elanna reminded.

 _~I’ve got her.~_ Ayala announced, and Chakotay – along with all the others on the bridge – released an audible, if short-lived sigh of relief. _~She’s in bad shape, tell the Doc to get ready.~_

“Just concentrate on getting out of there, Mike,” Chakotay warned.

“Sir,” Tuvok interjected.  “When the _Sacajawea’s_ core breaches –“

“Don’t tell me, it’ll ignite more of the gas.”

“I’m not sure what it will do,” B’Elanna warned.  “With that much antimatter being released into –“

“Back us away, half impulse,” the Commander ordered.  “Be ready to jump to warp, tell Ayala to do the same as soon as he’s able.”

“Aye sir.”

Another moment of silence which was then broken by words he hadn’t thought to fear.  _~Chakotay, get the captain off my shuttle as soon as I’m in range.  Don’t wait.~_

One, single and piercing thought burned into Chakotay’s mind.  ‘ _She’s already dead.’_ And if he had had the wherewithal to have observed those around him, he’d have known they were thinking the same exact thing. 

The bridge buzzed with the electricity of precise work.  Chakotay perceived it all through a haze of tenuous, gripping fear.

_“Dropping shields for transport.”_

_“Another six seconds and I’ll have a lock on the captain.”_

_“Ten seconds till the core goes.”_

_“They’re almost clear.”_

_“Got her.”_

_“Engaging warp engines.”_

_“Flyer’s free.”_

_~Doctor to the Bridge.  I need Mr. Paris down here as soon as possible.~_

…

_~Bridge, please acknowledge.~_

_“Commander?”_

“Acknowledged, Doctor,” Chakotay finally blurted out.  Then, against the protest of his dry throat he managed, “What is the captain’s condition?”

_~Critical.  I need another hand in surgery, now!~_

Tom, who had spun in his chair to face his commanding officer, didn’t bother to wait for the order to leave despite the absence of a relief pilot, and Chakotay found himself hot on the Lieutenant’s tail, darting up the ramp before catching Tuvok’s expression.  He met the Vulcan’s eyes once again as they slowly dragged back to the empty seat at the helm - a silent reminder of his true duty.

Chakotay stopped dead in his tracks.  “Keep us apprised, Tom,” he said, as the man disappeared into the turbo lift. 

All he wanted in that moment was to sprint for sickbay.

All he wanted was to hold her hand, to see her bright blue eyes, to make sure that she would be alright.

But all he could really do was to wait.

And waiting, when it came to Kathryn Janeway, was the one thing he absolutely hated to do.

* * *

Sickbay was dim when he finally made it there.  Dim, and very quiet.

He had already read the report on her injuries, the synopsis of her surgery, the prognosis and plan for her recovery.

And yet.

No amount of words could prepare him for the sight of her lying there, so still and pale.  He refocused his eyes on the foot of her bed.

 _She’s alive,_ he reminded himself.  And with each step closer he repeated another phrase to steady his body and his mind.

_She’s going to be fine._

_She’ll make a full recovery._

_She’ll be back on duty in a few days._

_She’ll be back in your arms tomorrow._

Finally, he was close enough to touch her.

_But for how long?_

“Kathryn,” he choked.  Running his fingers lightly down the back of her hand, unable yet to look upon the rest of her.

“She can’t hear you yet, Commander,” came a slightly annoyed voice from the Doctor’s office.

Startled, he looked up.  “How is she?”

“Didn’t you get my reports?”

“Yes,” Chakotay replied softly.  “I did, but I just thought –“

“She’ll be fine now,” he huffed.  “She’s out of the woods so to speak.  But might I request that before the captain is allowed to put herself in a situation like this again, someone at least _try_ to stop her?”

Chakotay bit down hard on his tongue.  As if the captain could be _disallowed_ from anything.  As if any amount of pleading or begging or citing rules could keep her from doing ‘this kind of thing’ again. 

“I’ll keep that in mind.  Thank you, Doctor,” he managed, eyes tracing back to her small form.

“I’d be happy to alert you when she regains consciousness,” the Doctor offered, a bit more subdued.

“Thank you, Doctor.  Please do.”

Chakotay heard the hologram’s footsteps retreat to the office.  Then, and only then did he allow himself to look down at the slender outline of his captain, _his lover,_ as she lay motionless under a grey blanket.  This was the woman who had been so vibrant, so full of life just this morning.  Oh, but she was also the one who he had visited here too many times before.  The one who would undoubtedly be back, fighting for her life over something completely unworthy of the trade time and time again.  Until eventually…

Maybe it was too much to bear.  Maybe she was right all those times she pushed him away for fear of getting too close.  Because ultimately this was the price one, or both of them would eventually pay.

And perhaps the most unexpected thing of all wasn’t that he felt sad, it was that he was angry.  Deeply hurt.  Betrayed by her complete at total lack of consideration for his feelings.  For the feelings of their crew – _their family._  That she had such complete and utter disregard for the value of her own life as to have risked it for something as trivial as a piece of equipment.

The anger boiled inside of him, threatening to overtake everything else.  His jaw began to ache and he suddenly had the urge to get away from her as quickly as possible.  How he would be able to see her again, to speak to her without completely losing his calm, he had no idea.  But he realized he would need to find a way in very short order.

Releasing his clenched fist from where it had balled up her blanket, he used his palm to smooth her hair.  Then he left her alone in the dim silence once again.

**Author's Note:**

> Please go read [Making Up is Hard to Do](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11063199/chapters/26464488) by MiaCooper next!


End file.
